New in the Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan

With the release of Canada's Federal Budget, GMA is looking forward to contributing to the accomplishment of the Government's objectives of consulting with industry to improve procurement policies.  Below are exciting excerpts from the Budget: 

Improving Military Procurement
In 2008, the Government announced the Canada First Defence Strategy—a long-term strategy to modernize the Canadian Forces. This commitment has set the stage for a renewed relationship with Canada’s industry, knowledge and technology sectors, allowing unprecedented opportunities for every region of the country and creating an environment in which companies can plan ahead, positioning themselves to compete for defence contracts in Canada and in the global marketplace.

Considerable progress has been achieved in streamlining and improving military procurement processes, including through the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy and enhancements to the Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy. The Government is committed to continuing these efforts by developing a procurement strategy, in consultation with industry, to maximize job creation, support Canadian manufacturing capabilities and innovation, and bolster economic growth in Canada.

Launching a Review of Aerospace Policy and Programs


Canada’s aerospace sector is a global technology leader and a major source of high-quality jobs. The Government will conduct—through a consultative process involving the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada and their member firms—a comprehensive review of all policies and programs related to the aerospace/space industry to develop a federal policy framework to maximize the competitiveness of this export-oriented sector and the resulting benefits to Canadians. This review will be coordinated with the ongoing Review of Federal Support to Research and Development.

The Government has made substantial, successful investments to leverage private sector investment in this important, high-tech and growing sector of our economy. To build on these successes, the Government will ensure that stable funding is provided for the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative through this 12-18 month consultative review, and examine options for continuing the level of funding thereafter. 

Photos of GMA's Cargo Parachutes in Action

G12 parachutes over Afganistan 

Supplies about to be dropped

G12 Cargo Parachutes 

Soldiers watch as equipment is brought in

Desert Delivery

Camouflage Today: Part 3- Looking to the Future

DARPA is unique among government agencies in not only being allowed, but encouraged, to pursue concepts and technologies that may not come into regular use for decades – if then. Those have included the Internet, aircraft stealth, unmanned air and ground vehicles, robots, directed energy, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, precision guidance, hypersonic flight, bionic prosthetics, controlling mechanical devices by thought, and flying cars.

During his time with DARPA, Smith led a research team investigating, among other things, invisibility. He has continued that work at Duke, with research into the electromagnetic properties of artificially structured materials – metamaterials – and the theoretical potential to design a material that would render objects invisible.

He also sees some “glimmer of reality” in the cloaking technology used by Star Trek’s Romulans to make their starships not only undetectable by sensors, but also invisible to the naked eye. However, while theoretically possible, based on the bending of light near massive gravitational sources, such as black holes, creating a portable device carried aboard a ship and being able to turn it on and off, in his words, leaves it “firmly the domain of science fiction.”

Perhaps surprisingly, Smith sees far greater potential for real-world invisibility in a science – rather than magic – based version of Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak. By using the right materials, he wrote, it might be possible to bend light around the cloak – which would create a sphere surrounding the object to be concealed – without requiring a black hole’s gravity well.

“The capabilities and limitations of cloaking will continue to be sorted out in the coming months and years, but there are some issues that are clear from the outset,” Smith wrote. “The cloak is a complicated structure. Not just complicated, but one that requires materials that are not known to exist. This appears to be one difficulty we can surmount by the use of artificial micro- and nano-structures that can substitute for the lack of conventional materials having the right properties. And while the cloaking structures are complex as materials go, they are nevertheless easily fabricated using available technologies.

Overall, then, the future of camouflage for land forces – indeed, all military and paramilitary units – appears on the edge of the first significant change since Ice Age hunters covered themselves with mud and leaves, first to trick game animals, later other humans during combat.

“One last point to consider is that the entire design paradigm that leads to the cloak – starting by transforming space and then determining the equivalent electromagnetic material – represents a new approach to optics,” Smith concluded. “Just five years ago, this idea of transformed optics might have been abandoned because the resulting material requirements would have been considered impractical.

“With the advent of metamaterials, that conclusion has now changed and we can envision entirely new classes of optical devices, invisibility cloaks being just one example. So, while we have been inspired by the invisibility of fictional worlds, perhaps the discoveries that might follow from transformation optics will in turn have an impact in fictional worlds – as well as in the actual world.”

(Courtesy of http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/camouflage-today/)

Camouflage Today: Part 2- Modern Warfare

Human warfighters are not the sole users of battlefield camouflage, of course. Tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, trucks, Humvees, command tents, and so on typically use paint or fabric schemes, netting, and other covers in an attempt to blend into the background, reduce IR signatures, and escape detection, primarily from aerial reconnaissance – manned or unmanned aircraft – and satellites.

Because military vehicles quickly become covered in dirt, mud, or sand, paint schemes alone provide only marginal protection. Efforts also must be made to reduce reflectivity, so the vehicle does not “shine” or glitter in sunlight, a problem typically increased when the vehicle is wet. Netting, which is continuously being improved in design and materials, has been the best solution to date, although natural cover – from hiding beneath trees or in the shell of a building to covering the vehicle with leaves, branches, or even rubble – remains common.

The addition of IR suppressive materials provides added protection against both air and ground detection, but all such measures still leave the item being covered vulnerable to radar. As a result, the definition of camouflage has now been expanded through the introduction of stealth technologies, such as radar-defeating shapes and materials and electronic disruption of enemy detection and weapons guidance systems. But defeating electronic detection is a far greater challenge than fooling the human eye and brain.

Night vision goggles and weapon scopes, for example, have enabled military operations to continue at night, which historically provided cover to both forces on the move and those seeking rest and resupply. Traditional camouflage is useless against systems that use the heat produced by the human body and military equipment to locate potential targets. While IR-masking materials, from netting that also incorporates camouflage designs and colors for daytime concealment to thermal blankets and other materials, can help protect equipment – from computers to tanks – it is not enough. That also applies to humans, leading to research into how to block the detection of body heat through special materials for clothing and packs. The problem is doing so without “cooking” the wearer.

(Courtesy of http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/camouflage-today/)

Camouflage Today: Part 1- An ancient art moves into the 21st century

Camouflage has been used in ground combat throughout history, but primarily by hunters called to temporary military duty rather than formalized armies, against whom they often were pitted. The earliest forms – such as covering a combatant with dirt, mud, or bits of foliage – are still in use, even by the most technologically advanced militaries. But, as with all other elements of warfare, camouflage also has been and will be heavily affected by new materials and science.

It was not until the 1800s that national armies, initially troops of the British Empire in India and South Africa, began to shed brightly colored battle dress for neutral colors that would make them more difficult targets. But even limited camouflage did not become a semi-regular part of military dress until World War I. In the years between the two great wars, military leaders finally began shedding the millennia-old concept that concealment in combat was “shameful” and started looking for ways to increase warfighter survivability through combat uniforms that did not stand out from their background.

Three of the most influential – and diverse – factors in this effort were American author Gerald Handerson Thayer’s 1909 book, Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom, insights into how humans perceive what they see from early 20th century German Gestalt psychology, and the avant-garde work of cubist and impressionist painters. Combining the three, along with studies of the concealment methods of hunters, American Indians, and other non-European cultures, led to a far different style of battle uniform during World War II.

A major shift in camouflage design was developed in the late 1990s for the Canadian military: employing a computer-generated blending of pixels – essentially, square spots of varying size – that formed no specific pattern. An advancement on the basic effort to confuse an observer’s brain, variations on that theme were quickly adopted by other nations, especially for post-9/11 operations in Southwest Asia.

Most nations now employ a variety of camouflage patterns, for use in different environments (snow, jungle, desert, urban, etc.) by different groups (army, navy, air force, special forces, police, etc.). Some variations may be on the road to reversal, such as the divergence of U.S. Army and Marine Corps designs during the past decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The two may come back together if they see success in recent efforts to develop a new universal pattern, enabling warfighters to wear the same combat fatigues into almost any environment (snow being a primary exception).

Camouflage does not make the wearer “invisible,” but tricks an observer’s eye and brain into failing to see a clear separation of the edges of the wearer’s profile from the colors and shapes around him. As a result, while the eye still sees the camouflaged warfighter, the brain – which processes images by filling in for the small area of color the eye actually sees – is tricked into accepting the pattern as part of the background and not as a person.

(Courtesy of http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/camouflage-today/)

Welcome, Brian Hodges

GMA is excited to announce the appointment of Brian W. Hodges to the position of Chief Executive Officer of GMA USA.  As part of his duties Mr. Hodges will also serve as the Chairman of the Board GMA USA.  Mr. Hodges brings with him an exceptional 28 years of defense industry experience, and nearly 20 years of proven success in various Executive Management roles at Lancer Systems, General Dynamics and Advanced Technical Products’ Intellitec Division.  Mr. Hodges has extensive experience in the development and manufacturing of products for all branches of the United States Military, foreign Ministries of Defence, and major prime contractors.  Products have included Tactical Deception Products (Camouflage and screening products), Chemical/Biological Defensive Systems (Detection, Collective Protection), Missile and Munition Systems (Delivery Systems, Rockets and Munitions), Gun Systems (Individual and Crew Served) and Composite/Advanced Material Components.  He will play a critical role in GMA through change management, process improvement, strategic planning and global business and operations management.  Mr. Hodges’ experiences will give GMA USA a unique competitive advantage as the New Year begins. 

GMA featured on Buerger Katsota Architects 2010 Highlights

An innovative textile application designed in partnership with GMA and Buerger Katsota Architects has been featured on www.buerger-katsota.com/projects/work/ 

This is just one more highlight of GMA thinking outside of the box and positioning ourselves as a true center for innovation and engineering expertise. 

GlassFrog

Transparency.
An indicator of trouble.

Cut the BS!!! (Bureaucratic Stuff)

GlassFrog- launching SOON!!!!!

Happy Holidays from GMA

Seasons greetings from everyone at GMA.  This year, GMA is collecting donation for our local Salvation Army the week of December 13-17.  Happy Holidays!

CHOOSE HAITI

Choose: Haiti is a new initiative that has gone viral. It is a project where people in Haiti collect pieces of litter, newspaper and plastic bottles which the get converted into bracelets by earthquake survivors.  They're made of 100% recycled material, and create jobs in Haiti today while saving the environment for tomorrow.  Keep this cause in mind while you're shopping for stocking stuffers this holiday season. 

Order yours at http://www.blanketamerica.com/content/choose-haiti-bracelet

Shelter Cluster in Haiti! See on googleearth from this link: http://groups.google.com/group/cccmhaiti/web/mapping-and-gis?_done=%2Fgroup%2Fcccmhaiti%3F

Commanders and Transformers Series: True North Strong and Free: What is Canada's role in the Arctic?

Tonight GMA will attend the Commanders and Transformers speakers' series for front line discussions on defence, Canada's role in the Arctic, business, and global impact. 

Presented by The Canadian Forces Liaison Council, ICE Leadership and Canadian International Council Waterloo Region, this interactive speakers series will feature Brigadier-General Collin J.C., OMM, CD (Chief of Staff HQ Canada Command) and Captain (Navy) Serge Bertrand (Director of Maritime Strategic Communications) as they discuss “True North Strong and Free: What is Canada’s Role in the Arctic?” in a dynamic interview with Dr. P. Whitney Lackenbauer (Associate Professor of History, St. Jerome’s University and author of Arctic Front: Defending Canada in the Far North).  This event was featured on David Pugliese's Defence Watch.  

GMA Supports Global Disaster Relief

GMA has essential disaster relief products on standby to assist with relief efforts worldwide.  We are particularly committed to efforts in Haiti and are currently preparing a proposal to work in collaboration with the Canadian government to execute an overarching relief campaign in Haiti.  We are also carefully watching Hurricane Tomas and preparing to provide shelters and portable drinking water systems should we be called on. 

Hurricane Tomas heads for Haiti

Tomas is currently a tropical storm with a probability of intensifying to a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches Haiti.With 1.3 million people living in flimsy tent camps in the capital of Port-au-Prince, and a cholera outbreak in the countryside threatening to spread to the capital, Tomas, even as a mild hurricane, threatens to wreak havoc on a country already devastated by an earthquake in January that killed up to 300,000 people. The government and international organizations are positioning supplies and manpower to respond to Tomas.

GMA is prepared to provide shelters and disaster relief supplies to Haitians should we be called on.  We are committed to assisting in all disaster relief efforts and have our products on standby for this potential crisis.  For more information on disaster relief solutions, including shelter systems and potable water storage tanks, call 888 967 6197. 

Drop Fuel Shade
Drop Fuel Shade

GMA heads to AUSA's Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington DC

GMA will be at the annual AUSA Meeting and Exposition at the Washington Convention Center between October 25-27 where we will be showcasing several new products. Stop by our booth to speak with a representative and learn more about GMA: Booth #842 near Hall A.

Also, look out for GMA and Navistar Defense's prototype designs for MaxxPro, featured in the Navistar Booth #3931.

See you in Washington!

Making parachutes could add 50 jobs

In order to succeed, businesses need to watch for emerging trends.

For Walter Hill and GMA Protection Technologies, that includes keeping an eye on U.S. military tactics. On Sept. 21, the Port Huron-based company won an $8.2 million contract with the U.S. Defense Department to make massive parachutes that will be used to drop supplies to U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The contract will allow the company to hire 25 to 50 new employees for at least two years -- and hopefully longer, company officials said.

GMA will construct 3,000 parachutes that are 65 feet in diameter. Called G-12 parachutes, they can be used for up to three drops. They can deliver up to 3,500 pounds of cargo. Using more than one parachute, the Army also can use them to deliver small vehicles and engineering equipment. This is the second contract GMA has won to manufacture parachutes. Last year, it won a $1 million contract for a type of parachute that has a lifespan of just one drop, Hill said.

Story Featured on The Times Herald,

http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201010020635/NEWS01/10020306

GMA awarded $8.3M G12 Parachute Contract

Press Release: Since 1974, GMA has specialized in providing high technology textile products and components for the Defense Industry: products that perform under pressure and exceed the most stringent quality assurance requirements. Our dedication to quality has been our key differentiator for competing in a global competitive landscape.

"We are a US Small Business with average CAPEX investments per Revenue over 4 times Industry averages. We add automation and bring fresh, innovative ideas to continually improve processes for long standing US build to print products" stated Acting CEO and President, Nicole Verkindt. Our manufacturing expertise is second to none.

Today, GMA is pleased to announce the expansion of its quality offerings to the manufacture of cargo parachutes. Thanks to a dedicated team of world class engineers, manufacturing experts, and aggressive production readiness initiatives, we have received our first contract, valued at $8.3M for the production of G12 Parachutes for Natick.

We are already working diligently to expand our capabilities and see the future of GMA parachutes as being highly focused on Low Velocity Cargo Parachutes and other higher end variants. We have additional manufacturing capacity prepared for the immediate production of additional Parachutes and look forward to competing in this sophisticated market in the future.

GMA Innovates to Create Architectural Application for Textiles

GMA has taken innovation to heart with its new venture into architectural applications for its world class textile products in Greece. GMA engineers pioneered the idea and have been collaborating with Greek developers to see expansion of this new project across the country. Thermal reduction and ventilation are two key attributes of this product, as well as the aesthetic appeal the textile print adds to the building. This unique project demonstrates GMA's ongoing position as a Canadian Center of Excellence dedicated to unique engineering solutions and engineering driven sales.

GMA Visits Battle Creek Oil Spill

GMA spent the day on Thursday, July 29th, in Battle Creek, Michigan, surveying the disaster zone and meeting with Enbridge officials to discuss GMA's oil containment boom technology. GMA's oil booms are made using patented high frequency welding technology and the highest quality technical PVC materials. With our US head office in Port Huron, Michigan, GMA is well positioned to aid in cleanup efforts. With 250 000 square feet of manufacturing capacity, GMA can produce more than 10 000ft of boom per day.

GMA partners with Musthane to Launch New Line of Products

GMA recently signed an international partnership with Musthane that has significantly increased our capacity to manufacture much needed chemical capture and storage equipment for North American use. This strategic agreement combines 65 years of experience in high quality manufacturing processes and technology. With key facilities in Port Huron, Michigan and Ontario, Canada, GMA and Musthane's oil booms and fuel bladders are founded on state-of-the-art, automated production technologies that ensure superior form, fit, durability and function. We are able to design unique specs or match existing ones. Check out our website for more information on AketonFUEL (fuel bladders) and AketonSTOP (oil booms). Now accepting orders! http://www.gmacover.com/

GMA & Tiburon’s work in Haiti featured in media

Our hard work on the Thomonde "Tent City" project has been recently featured in the media.

See the links below for some stories in English and Spanish.

http://eldia.com.do/nacionales/2010/6/11/27534/Empresas-dominicanas-donan-30

http://www.elcaribe.com.do/site/index.php?option=com_medias&task=search&criteria=&hidesearch=0&Itemid=103&mediatypes[]=v&page=1&mediaid=26616

http://diariolibre.com/noticias_det.php?id=247982

http://swo.ctv.ca/news.php?id=7554

Invitation for the Inauguration of the Thomonde Tent City

Tiburon GMA Inv and Press Release ENG


Spanish

Here are a couple shelter related stories from Haiti

"Shelter problems loom largest for Haiti: commander"

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100417/haiti_shelter_100417/20100417?hub=TopStoriesV2

The Haiti National Soccer team is looking to bring back as many shelters as possible when they return home from trainning in Texas.

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/quake-ravaged-haitian-soccer-team-trains-in-texas--fbintl_ap-haitisoccerteam.html

"Archlog"

Was post WWII America an example of life imitating art? In order to camouflage a Lockeed Martin factory in WWII, the Army Corps of Engineers covered it in a giant tarp and painted it out of existence disguised as suburban sprawl.

Before:

and after:

and under the canvas:

(taken form http://www.archlog.com on April 30th 2010)

Quake-ravaged Haitian soccer team trains in Texas

PAUL J. WEBER, AP - Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:24 PM EDT

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (AP) -- After the Haitian national soccer team couldn't eat another bite of chef-prepared pork or ice cream, and before going back to its cabins at a Texas resort, coach Jairo Rios asked for a favor.

Tents. As many as they could haul back to Haiti.

"I eat well here. I sleep well," forward Charles Herold Jr. said in French, speaking through a translator. "But I cannot help but think of my friends and family who don't have that. I can't get that off my mind."

Unable to practice in Port-au-Prince since the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed as many as 250,000 people, the Haitian team is staying in Texas until its May 5 game against Argentina. Players say a victory is badly needed to boost their country's spirits, even though they are heavy underdogs against one of the top teams in the world.

The Texas trip was organized by the nonprofit group San Antonio Sports, which is providing the training getaway for the devastated Haitian soccer federation. Players who've slept in the streets for the past three months have been feted with brisket and trips to shopping malls.

Players are already wrestling with the guilt of their relatively better fortunes. Forward Eliphene Cadet, 29, escaped from his house in Port-au-Prince after the roof caved on him and two children.

Leaving Haiti meant leaving his family in a tent in a field, near where his house once stood. Other players left their families in similar conditions.

"All the guys talk about it," Cadet said. "I know that they're here. There are still tremors now. That's our biggest worry."

The Haitian team has actually emerged from the earthquake luckier than some. All members of the national team survived, including those whose houses crumbled on top of them.

But 32 bodies were pulled from the rubble of the soccer federation's three-story headquarters, including coaches and top officials. Yves Jean-Bart, president of the soccer federation, was among only a few who escaped alive.

Some homeless families are still encamped at the national soccer stadium, and fields elsewhere remain blanketed by a canopy of makeshift tents and tarps. Robert Jean-Bart, the son of Haiti's soccer federation president and who lives in Boston, said there is virtually nowhere in the country to play soccer.

Jean-Bart said it was only last weekend that families began moving off the playing field in the stadium. He said the federation is trying to schedule a game in Port-au-Prince as early as August, but it will depend on how quickly the turf can be repaired.

Even before the quake, Haiti did not qualify for the World Cup. The international soccer federation FIFA ranks Haiti No. 91 in the world -- behind Iceland but above Gambia -- and the country's national team has not played an official game in nearly a year.

But players said facing Argentina -- ranked No. 9 -- will be as important to Haiti as a World Cup match.

"In Haiti, people say ask when we're going to play Argentina. People think you're going to do something good for the country," said defender Peter Germain. "If we win against Argentina, the people are finally going to be happy. We can do something positive for this country."

Nerves from the earthquake remain raw. On the bumpy flight last week to San Antonio, a bout of turbulence had Haitian players pressing their fingernails into the armrests.

"Even when the plane rumbles, it make them nervous," said Jean Roland Dartiguenave, an assistant coach whose cell phone store in Haiti was destroyed. "It reminds them of the tremors."

Shelter problems loom largest for Haiti: commander

CTV.ca News Staff

Date: Sat. Apr. 17 2010 4:33 PM ET

The commander of a Canadian military destroyer that was dispatched to Haiti in the wake of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake says a shortage of livable homes is the biggest hurdle facing Haitians desperate to overcome the disaster.

Sailors aboard HMCS Athabaskan returned to Canada in March, after providing medical care and water, and rebuilding orphanages. They were based in the town of Leogane. About 90 per cent of the homes and businesses there were destroyed by the quake.

"Shelter now for the remainder of the population is going to be one of the key issues, I think, so they can start helping themselves," Peter Crain, the ship's commander, told CTV News Channel on Saturday. "They're into the rainy season now."

HMCS Athabaskan, one of two Canadian military vessels dispatched to Haiti, arrived in the devastated country seven days after the magnitude-7.0 tremor that killed about 200,000 people.

Its crew was tasked with providing light engineering help, humanitarian aid and medical assistance.

"The first thing I noticed was the absolute devastation. The area we were working in was very close to the epicentre, and I was seeing 90 per cent of the homes and businesses were destroyed there," Crain recalled.

The second thing he noticed was a young girl who had been injured.

"She was going to have her hand removed because it was crushed in the earthquake," Crain said. "And she stood there, not a tear in her eye."

"That really epitomized the Haitian people that I saw there. How strong, how resilient they were in the face of this disaster."

After the quake, an unprecedented effort began to load supplies and prepare the crews of HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Halifax in just a few days.

The 225 crew members on HMCS Halifax, which returned home on March 2 after a six week deployment, focused on the town of Jacmel. HMCS Athabaskan and its crew of 240 returned to Canada on March 17.

"We were sort of the fire department," Crain said. "We arrived and we helped get the country back on its feet" after municipal and federal governments there, and some of the large NGOs, were hobbled by the disaster.

"We were in an area that didn't have a lot of help after the earthquake -- and they needed us."

GMA's Relief Shelters

These are shelters that we are currently building with our partner Tiburon in their facility in Dominican Republic.

We are currently setting up a model city inside Haiti to show case these shelters. Together with our partners inside and outside of Haiti we have secured warehouses and logistics hubs that will allow us to employ Haitians throughout the supply chain and have them fully trained on installation and maintenance of the shelters.

We're creating a sustainable community with public spaces that will allow residents to express their own individuality and culture.

GMA at NDIA MI Event

A GMA ULCANS was used as part of the Canadian exhibit at a show hosted by the Michigan Chapter of the US National Defense Industries Association held in Warren, Michigan.

Rain begins to hit Haiti

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8541361.stm

GMA is working with Dominican Red Cross, World Vision, American Friends Committee, Adra to procure hospital shelters, tents, bags, water bladders.

GMA in Haiti

GMA has partnered with a Dominican Supplier to produce relief shelters, bags for blankets, food and water, water bladders, tarps and aerial delivery systems. We will be driving as much as possible over the border into Haiti as we produce it!!!!!

More to update as the team responds to this tragedy.......

Thoughts on Innovation:

"Innovation is the source of a country's "structural dynamism" and is the root of just about everything good, like growth, employment and prosperity". - Edmund S. Phelps, Economics professor and Nobel laureate

Entrepreneurial innovation was described by Joseph Schumpeter as "perennial gale of creative destruction, forcing existing companies to adapt or just fail"

Aketon Solo Product Shots

Happy Thanksgiving!

From everyone at GMA

GMA Attends the Soldier Equipment Expo

GMA launched Aketon Solo at the Soldier Equipment and Technology Expo in Fayetteville, NC November 17th and 18th.

Take a look at our booth and Aketon Solo

Aketon Solo Updates

GMA Officially Launches Aketon Solo Today! Visit our website for more information and to place your Pre-Order.

Glenn and Nicole in Alliance Newsletter

Glenn and Nicole pictured in the October edition of the Canadian Force's Alliance newsletter on their "ExecuTrek" at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa. Check out the entire newsletter for more info. on the Canadian Force's reservists http://www.cflc.forces.gc.ca/new-sp/all/doc/2009-10-eng.pdf.

More GMA Stories...

"We used to put Nicole in an empty material box, fill it with pizza bags and put it on the vibrating sewing machine table to get her to go to sleep at work" - Rita Thiessen

GMA Stories...

"I was one of the 1st people working on the winter fronts just off of Kennedy Road in brampton. I was one of the first sewers. My other daughter Dolorous was polishing the product as it went out the door. One day we were supposed to have a company BBQ and all I see is Lillian (Glenn's mother) patting this pig ,giggling and running around. I couldn't believe she was playing with dinner!" - Rita Thiessen (Glenn's mother in law)

GMA is awarded Army's 2009 Top Michigan Small Business Contractor!
See the links here:
http://www.edascc.com/
www.facebook.com

Opening of Canadian War Museum Camouflage Exhibit June 4, 2009

It is with great pleasure that I inform you that GMA is a Supporting Sponsor of the Canadian War Museum’s upcoming Camouflage exhibit. I am very excited that GMA has partnered with such a prestigious partner as the War Museum, sponsoring this exhibit is a great opportunity to get the GMA name out there. The exhibit will be seen by thousands of people as it runs from June until the end of the year, all of which will see the GMA logo proudly displayed as they enter.

Camouflage will offer Museum visitors a fascinating look at the various aspects of camouflage, from its early roots in achieving the most basic levels of Warfield deception to its impact on popular culture. Camouflage was immensely popular and a critical success at its premier showing in the United Kingdom’s Imperial War Museum in London last summer. Camouflage will be showing at the Canadian War Museum for six months, from June 2009 to January 2010.

MP Claude Bachand and Guelph Conservative Candidate Gloria Kovach visit GMA, Summer 2009

The Early Days....

“In the early days when we all wore many hats Glenn , Phil, and I were working to win business from Bombardier. We secured a proto type order from Bombardier for a tarpaulin for the 2 1/2 ton truck. Money was tight, so even the $1600.00 dollars that was on our receivables list and due in 30 days looked appealing to chase down. Then we could eat the next week. When Glenn and I sat down and discussed it,we concluded that we should let it age as much as possible and we could use this to negotiate better terms on future requirements. So it sat for a few months and we did not chase them for the overdue receivable. Subsequently they gave us another order , which we fabricated and Bombardier required the parts themselves so they could ship completed trucks to the government and get them on their own receivables list.

We also knew that Bombardier had been given a large advance from the Government to kick start the whole project . I think it was $350 million .

Glenn had built a good relationship with the buyer whose name was Luc Goyette, and we did not want to disturb that over money issues. So I played the bad guy and had to put Bombardier on credit hold because the first invoice was long overdue, and I wanted to know if this was going to happen on future large releases.What could they do for us because I was not allowing the shipment to be sent.

Glenn re-negotiated the terms with Mr. Goyette to give them 2% Net 10 days and everyone was happy and we were on the map.

One of our early business lessons on how to use "The Good Guy Bad Guy" approach.” – Al Richard